MAJORS

Although the season is young, there has been a dramatic display of power hitting.  Fence-clearing home runs have been hit by: Kekoa Yamaguchi, Cubs; Mitch MacKeith, Orioles; Alec Daniele, A’s; John Todd and Liam Glennon, Yankees; and Richard Marsh and Lucas Cherry, Red Sox.

Orioles v. A’s

Led by five innings of shut-out pitching by Mitch MacKeith, the Orioles defeated the Athletics 11-1. In securing his second win of the season, MacKeith tallied 12 strikeouts, while giving up only one hit to the A’s Clint Rock. Marcus Bunaugh pitched the sixth for the Orioles, giving up one hit, a double to Michael Evans, while striking out one.
The Orioles offense was paced by MacKeith and Tyler Waters. MacKeith contributed a single and a double while Waters had two singles and a double. Vijay Menon and Michael Barnes also had base hits.

Red Sox v. Yankees

A diving, shoe-string catch by center fielder Drew Spera cut short a last-inning rally by a tenacious Yankee squad, saving an 8-6 win for the Red Sox. Lucas Cherry drove in runs with a double in the first inning and a single in the second. Jarrett Marsh added two RBI and Brian Chegini contributed a single for the winners. Sox starting pitcher Frankie Hall had an RBI double in the second.

The Yankees fought back with infield hits by Mark Hilliard, Anthony Wagner and John Todd, a walk and a two-run single by Clay Koch to even the contest at 3-3 in the first inning. The Yankees’ speedy Hayden Hall was cut down at home on a throw by Cherry to Richard Marsh at the plate to end the inning. The Yankees added run in the third inning on Koch’s single to center and on Glen Hall’s single to left in the fourth.

In the top of the fifth, a double by the Red Sox Frankie Hall was followed by a smash over the center field fence by Cherry’s rocket over the center field fence. Staked with an 8-6 lead, Sox reliever Richard Marsh shut down the Yankees in the bottom of the fifth.

Tension mounted in the bottom of the sixth as Marsh fanned the first two batters. But an infield hit by T.D. Kline brought Hayden Hall to the plate, representing the potential tying run.  Hall ripped a shot to center that looked like big trouble for the Sox. But on this cool, spring afternoon, Spera had other ideas.

AAA

Marlins v. Rangers

The Marlins and Rangers locked in a close battle before the Marlins pulled ahead for a 7-5 victory. The Rangers’ offense was jump-started in the second inning with solid hitting from Barrett Nixon, who hit a double, and Jimmy Major and Tim Donus, who both batted in runs.
The Marlins defense was assisted by a diving foul-ball catch from third baseman Harry Slonim. Jackson DuBro hit a triple in the fourth inning to bring in two runs, and stepped in to pitch at the end of the game with bases loaded to clinch the Marlins’ win.

Dodgers v. Pirates 

Jack Manon pitched five innings of one-hit baseball and collected three hits at the plate to lead the AAA Dodgers (2-3) to an 11-1 win over the Pirates (2-3) on Saturday at Westgate. Manon out-dueled a sharp Nate Thatcher in a game that was close for the first three innings. The Dodgers were also led by the hitting of Tyler Marple and Evan Davis, as well as stellar defense by Pedro Penzo and Thomas Beddow.

Cardinals v. Mets

This game featured a tough head-to-head pitching battle between starters Christopher Meador of the Mets and the Daniel Donovan of the Cardinals. At the end of four innings, the scored was tied at 3-3. The Mets rallied in the top of the fifth inning scoring 5 runs. Undaunted, the Cardinals came right back to tie the game at 8-8.

Batting first in the final inning, the Mets regained the lead. Once again the Cardinals rallied on a walk to Jack Hennessey, who then scored on Zach Welch’s double. John Croke followed with a single, stole second and scored the winning run on an infield hit by Donovan.

AA

Sand Gnats v. Aquasox

On Saturday, April 28, the AA Sand Gnats and the Aquasox tied 5-5 at Jefferson Village Park. Zachary Talamonti struck out 6 batters for the Aquasox over three strong innings. For the Sand Gnats, Elliot Mercado hit two inside-the-park home runs and struck out 5. Sand Gnats pitcher Frank Williamson struck out one and made a great catch on an inning-ending pop-fly. Christopher Comstock got a hit and scored a run. Lowell Weissman got a key hit for the Sand Gnats.

A

Red Wings v. Express

In a hard fought contest in which the teams exchanged leads for the first two innings, the Red Wings (4-0) were finally able to pull away from the Express on April 28. The Red Wings bats went to work, led by slugger Paul Pacheco, allowing the Red Wings to escape with the 13-6 win.

First baseman Ben Manon made an unassisted out in the first inning and third baseman David Gartner snagged a line drive to end the second, helping the Red Wings to defeat the Bulls 12-3 on April 23. In both the second and the third innings Shelby Hall came up to bat with two outs and gave the Red Wings the crucial hits they needed to stay alive against a tough Bulls defense.